the devil walking next to me

1 1/4 oz Batavia Arrack
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Salers Gentiane Liqueur
1/4 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe. Garnish with a lime wheel.

A few Fridays ago, in gearing up for Loyal Nine's inaugural Yacht Rock Sunday, I started tinkering with a few ideas. I knew that I wanted to call one of the drinks One Night in Bangkok. I figured that Batavia Arrack was the way to go given the bar's stock, and I was considering a merge of a Floridita and my Sinnerman Swizzle. Unfortunately, this drink never made the list for the bottle that I thought was Allspice Dram on the backbar at work was actually Nux Alpina. Therefore, I renamed this one The Devil Walking Next to Me from a lyric from One Night in Bangkok, and the drink named after that song became an easier drinking pisco number.
This drink though began with lime, Batavia Arrack funk, and hints of allspice. Like the Floridita, the sip was lime and a fruitiness from the sweet vermouth (albeit without the Floridita's pomegranate element). Finally, the swallow was much more complex with funky rum, earthy gentian notes, and spicy allspice accents. The combination of sweet vermouth, gentian, and allspice worked just as well here as it did my inspiration, Mike Fleming's Sinnerman at Westbridge.